Volatile material-containing compositions are used for various purposes. Such purposes include, but are not limited to, releasing volatile materials such as perfumes, other scented materials, insecticides, air fresheners, deodorants, aromachology materials, aromatherapy materials, disinfectants, insect repellants or any other volatile that acts to condition, modify, or otherwise charge the atmosphere or to modify the environment. All are referred to herein as air freshening compositions.
Such air freshening compositions may be dispensed from an air treatment device, such as an air freshener. The air freshener may have a reservoir containing the air freshening composition. The reservoir may be illuminated for aesthetic or functional purposes.
The reservoir may be clear, allowing the user to know when the contents are depleted. The air freshener may be energized, as occurs with electric resistance heaters which increase the rate of volatilization of the air freshening composition. Alternatively, the air freshener may be passive and allow evaporation or sublimation to naturally occur, based upon ambient conditions.
Several air fresheners also incorporate illumination. The illumination may be provided by an incandescent light bulb, light emitting diode (organic or otherwise) (LED), an electroluminescent panel, (cold cathode or otherwise), EL film, fluorescent bulb, or a combination of more than one such sources. If desired, the light source may be disposed remote from the ultimate point of illumination and the light channeled to the area to be illuminated using a light channeling element such as fiber optics or other light pipes.
However, in the prior art attempts, such illumination may be aimed away from the reservoir and not adequately illuminate it, so that one cannot easily tell the state of reservoir in low light conditions, particularly if the reservoir contained a gel, darker contents or contents which closely matched the color of the walls of the reservoir. Or the illumination may be so diffuse, it is not helpful to function as a night light, in lieu of turning on a room light. Turning on the room light can awaken others sleeping nearby, which may be undesirable. Each of these prior art approaches does not solve the problem of providing convenient viewing of the reservoir in darkness or helping to identify any trip hazards in the vicinity of the air freshener without turning on room lights.
Yet another problem may occur when the air freshener is placed at a normal viewing level. For example, if the air freshener may be plugged into a wall outlet above a countertop and provided with illumination. If so, the prior art attempts are not always satisfactory. For example, the commercially available Glade PlugIns® device has a light which projects horizontally when in the normal usage position. If this device is used above a countertop, the light can be directed towards the users' eyes and be unpleasant. This arrangement defeats the intent of having a light which can create a calming effect. These problems, and others, are addressed by the present invention.